Activists have set out a wish-list for yet more rental sector reforms
The demands come with prospective Prime Minister Andy Burnham set to assume office in a matter of days.
In a website entry, the Generation Rent activist group calls the far-reaching Renters Rights Act “only a first step” and itemises a shopping list of future reforms.
- Urgently limit rent increases:
The group complains that although the Renters Rights Act gives tenants more power to challenge rent increases, nearly seven in 10 have never heard of the First-Tier Tribunal system.
Generation Rent also complains that the tribunal uses market prices to decide on what a ‘fair rent’ is – and the activists claim such prices are unaffordable for many people.
- Accelerate measures to improve the quality of homes:
The activists says privately rented homes “are of significantly worse quality than owner-occupied homes or social homes.”
They want the Decent Homes Standard implemented five years early – 2030 instead of 2035 – and Awaab’s Law (which sets timescales for landlords to respond to hazards such as mould and damp) implemented this year.
- Support and properly enforce new minimum energy efficiency standards:
“Private renters are most likely to live in fuel poverty” claims the group on its website.
The government is ordering private rented homes to meet EPC Rating C by 2030 but the group wants this backed up with tenants able to to claim a Rent Repayment Order if a landlord is not abiding by them.
- End Right to Rent:
With no source for its claim, Generation Rent says “many landlords simply refuse to rent to people without a British passport” for fear of contravening the Right To Rent immigration checks.
Generation Rent says this is a major cause of homelessness and it wants the immigration checks abolished.
- Compensation for renters:
Generation Rent says even doubling notice periods for tenants under the Renters Rights Act still leaves “very tight windows”.
It says: “When a landlord evicts a tenant to sell the home or move themselves or a family member in, they should be forced to agree to waive two months of rent to help the renter with the upfront cost of moving home.”
It claims this would “prevent renters from being forced into homelessness or debt.”
